Euro 2016 Megathread

Paully D

Now that the club season has all but come to a close, I thought it would be a good time to get the build up started with less than 2 weeks to go until the big kickoff.

Firstly, the groups and fixtures:

Group A
France
Romania
Albania
Switzerland

France v Romania (2000, June 10, St-Denis, ITV & RTE)
Albania v Switzerland (1400, June 11, Lens, BBC & RTE)
Romania v Switzerland (1700, June 15, Paris, ITV & TV3)
France v Albania (2000, June 15, Marseille, ITV & TV3)
Romania v Albania (2000, June 19, Lyon, BBC & TV3)
Switzerland v France (2000, June 19, Lille, BBC & RTE)

Group B:
England
Russia
Wales
Slovakia

Wales v Slovakia (1700, June 11, Bordeaux, BBC & RTE)
England v Russia (2000, June 11, Marseille, ITV & TV3)
Russia v Slovakia (1400, June 15, Lille, BBC & RTE)
England v Wales (1400, June 16, Lens, BBC & RTE)
Russia v Wales (2000, June 20, Toulouse, ITV & RTE)
Slovakia v England (2000, June 20, St-Etienne, ITV & TV3)

Group C:
Germany
Ukraine
Poland
Northern Ireland

Poland v Northern Ireland (1700, June 12, Nice, BBC & RTE)
Germany v Ukraine (2000, June 12, Lille, BBC & TV3)
Ukraine v Northern Ireland (1700, June 16, Lyon, ITV & TV3)
Germany v Poland (2000, June 16, St-Denis, ITV & RTE)
Ukraine v Poland (1700, June 21, Marseille, BBC & TV3)
Northern Ireland v Germany (1700, June 21, Paris, BBC & RTE)

Group
Spain
Czech Republic
Turkey
Croatia

Turkey v Croatia (1400, June 12, Paris, ITV & TV3)
Spain v Czech Republic (1400, June 13, Toulouse, ITV & TV3)
Czech Republic v Croatia (1700, June 17, St-Etienne, BBC & RTE)
Spain v Turkey (2000, June 17, Nice, ITV & TV3)
Czech Republic v Turkey (2000, June 21, Lens, ITV & RTE)
Croatia v Spain (2000, June 21, Bordeaux, ITV & TV3)

Group E:
Belgium
Italy
Republic of Ireland
Sweden

Republic of Ireland v Sweden (1700, June 13, St-Denis, BBC & RTE)
Belgium v Italy (2000, June 13, Lyon, BBC & RTE)
Italy v Sweden (1400, June 17, Toulouse, ITV & RTE)
Belgium v Republic of Ireland (1400, June 18, Bordeaux, ITV & RTE)
Italy v Republic of Ireland (2000, June 22, Lille, ITV & RTE)
Sweden v Belgium (2000, June 22, Nice, ITV & TV3)

Group F:
Portugal
Iceland
Austria
Hungary

Austria v Hungary (1700, June 14, Bordeaux, ITV & TV3)
Portugal v Iceland (2000, June 14, St-Etienne, BBC & RTE)
Iceland v Hungary (1700, June 18, Marseille, BBC & TV3)
Portugal v Austria (2000, June 18, Paris, BBC & RTE)
Iceland v Austria (1700, June 22, St-Denis, BBC & RTE)
Hungary v Portugal (1700, June 22, Lyon, BBC & TV3)

RTÉ2 will show five Round of 16 games, two quarter-finals, both semi-finals and final. TV3 will show three Round of 16 games, two quarter-finals and will also broadcast the final. The breakdown will be announced after the group stages.

Last 16:

Match 1: Runner-up Group A v Runner-up C (1400, June 25, St-Etienne)
Match 2: Winner D v Third-place B/E/F (2000, June 25, Lens)
Match 3: Winner B v Third-place A/C/D (1700, June 25, Paris)
Match 4: Winner F v Runner-up E (2000, June 26, Toulouse)
Match 5: Winner C v Third-place A/B/F (1700, June 26, Lille)
Match 6: Winner E v Runner-up D (1700, June 27, St-Denis)
Match 7: Winner A v Third-place C/D/E (1400, June 27, Lyon)
Match 8: Runner-up B v Runner-up F (2000, June 27, Nice)

Quarter Finals:

1: Winner Match 1 v Winner Match 2 (2000, June 30, Marseille)
2: Winner Match 3 v Winner Match 4 (2000, July 1, Lille)
3: Winner Match 5 v Winner Match 6 (2000, July 2, Bordeaux)
4: Winner Match 7 v Winner Match 8 (2000, July 3, St-Denis)

Semi Finals:

1: Winner QF1 v Winner QF2 (2000, July 6, Lyon)
2: Winner QF3 v Winner QF4 (2000, July 7, Marseille)

Final:

Winner SF1 v Winner SF2 (2000, July 10, St-Denis)

Squads:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UEFA_Euro_2016_squads

Tournament Odds (Best Price from Oddschecker):
France 7/2
Germany 4/1
Spain 23/4
England 9/1
Belgium 11/1
Italy 18/1
Portugal 22/1
Croatia 29/1
Austria 40/1
Poland 50/1
Switzerland 70/1
Russia 75/1
Turkey & Wales 80/1
Ukraine & Sweden 100/1
Iceland & Czech Republic 125/1
Ireland & Slovakia 150/1
Romania 260/1
Hungary 400/1
Northern Ireland & Albania 500/1

Top Goalscorer Odds (Best Price from Oddschecker):
Ronaldo & Muller 8/1
Griezmann 10/1
Lewandowski & Kane 16/1
Giroud & Lukaku 20/1
Morato & Alcacer 25/1
Martial 30/1
Gomez, Ibrahimovic, Aduriz, Reus and Lacezzete 33/1
Vardy, de Bruyne, Manduzkic & Gotze 40/1
Others Varying from 50/1+ - available to view here.

Lumbo

Spain

Germany uber alles

GreNoLi

Belgium

Lumbo wrote: »

Germany uber alles

Loew should have left his post after world cup win, I chose England myself.

The_Kew_Tour

I fancy Spain. Think Poland or Austria could do well.

Ireland to get out of group but anything more will be huge bonus.

Drexel

Belgium

Hopefully we can make it out of the groups.

Fancy England to do well this year too

Korat

Croatia

I'm going to tip Poland to win it.

The usual favourites Germany, France, Italy and Spain all have major weaknesses. Germany should be the best of them but Ireland showed they can be beaten by a very limited team.

I think Ireland might get out of their group with some luck, NI has no chance. Wales will do to England what they did at the Rugby World Cup, knock them out in the group stage. :P

Mickeroo

Paully how dare you leave Ireland to be covered by "Other" in the poll :P

Corholio

Not sure England can go very far with the defence they have. Spain will be better this year with Morata an option and are very unlikely to be as disastrous as they were in the last tournament. I think they could win it.

France will probably be France and mess it up for themselves along the way.

Comic Book Guy

Can someone explain how the best 4 third place teams are allocated in the last 16 draw.
Say by way of example the third place teams in groups A to D get the spots, how is it determined which group winner they are drawn against?

irishguitarlad

Germany

I went with france, at home and with a manager that takes no ****. Was dead right to leave benzema and valbuena out as it would affect team chemistry. However I do think we will get a surprise team that will go to the semi finals and could maybe do a greece or denmark on it.

Andersonisgod

England

England have 10% more than Spain in this poll, let that sink in for a moment and then remember that the next time you go on about how the British media are always bigging England up before a major tournament, it's clearly ingrained deep in the Irish mindset too.

Comic Book Guy

Andersonisgod wrote: »

England have 10% more than Spain in this poll, let that sink in for a moment and then remember that the next time you go on about how the British media are always bigging England up before a major tournament, it's clearly ingrained deep in the Irish mindset too.

3 votes against 1 out of a total vote of 20 so far is hardly conclusive though in fairness. Will be interesting to see how the poll looks in little under a fortnight.

Andersonisgod

England

Comic Book Guy wrote: »

3 votes against 1 out of a total vote of 20 so far is hardly conclusive though in fairness. Will be interesting to see how the poll looks in little under a fortnight.

For the very reputation of this board I hope there's a big turnaround because the current results are genuinely crazy.

Comic Book Guy

Andersonisgod wrote: »

For the very reputation of this board I hope there's a big turnaround because the current results are genuinely crazy.

I doubt Greece polled too well in the 2004 thread!

Paully D

England

Just realised I made a bit of a balls of the poll. I wanted to put the top 10 teams as per the odds in there but seem to have left a couple out for their less favoured counterparts.

Perhaps a mod could throw a few more options in if possible? If we could get Croatia, Austria and Poland in there it would be much appreciated.

Gringo180

Italy

I fancy Belguim myself. De Bruyne at 40/1 for top goalscorer is huge value.

Paully D

England

France well out in front of the poll now.

MagicIRL

Think it's a two horse race between France and Germany myself. Think the German's may edge it though.

kfallon

Reus out of Germany squad.....again!

emo72

Belgium

As long as we have a good compliment of Australian camera in the stadiums it will be a good tournament. Polish women to win the contest on the stands?

Harry Palmr

France makes a compelling case but for the CB injury worry.

If Belgium had a better manager than Marc Wilmots I'd fancy them. Alas they'll be too lumpy I suspect when the going gets tough.

Peist2007

Germany

Gringo180 wrote: »

I fancy Belguim myself. De Bruyne at 40/1 for top goalscorer is huge value.

De Bruyne will be crossing balls into big lads. Good for a goal or two and that's about it

That_Guy

Italy at 10/1 appeals to me. I think they're flying a bit under the radar and they're a very handy tournament team with some very exciting players now.

Harry Palmr

kfallon wrote: »

Reus out of Germany squad.....again!

as someone pointed out on the guardian Reus has won exactly nothing. Unless you really rate the Super Cup!.

elefant

Alcacer joint 5th favourite for top scorer.... Not in the squad.

kfallon

Harry Palmr wrote: »

as someone pointed out on the guardian Reus has won exactly nothing. Unless you really rate the Super Cup!.

And what's your point?

Harry Palmr

Only that with injury that's another gong he has no chance of winning. Must be so frustrating for him with Dortmund not delivering silverware (pretty obvious point I'd have thought).

kfallon

Harry Palmr wrote: »

Only that with injury that's another gong he has no chance of winning. Must be so frustrating for him with Dortmund not delivering silverware (pretty obvious point I'd have thought).

They way your post came across to me it was like you were saying he wouldn't be much of a loss because he'd not won much at Dortmund, hence the confusion!

Harry Palmr

Juventus has the most players at the Euros*.
















Liverpool are second in the list*

















*Nicked off reddit so may not even be true.

HalloweenJack

Saw it on Wiki too but surely that's not definitive til all the squads are confirmed?

keith16

Germany

Harry Palmr wrote: »

Liverpool are second in the list*

Quality > Quantity

LuckyLloyd

Now that the Ireland squad is named, full on 'Tournament Madness' descending. I for one am really looking forward to the extended version of the Euros. There should be great narratives and 'David vs Goliath' looks off the second round fixtures.

DanielODonnell

The Ulster-Scots in Northern Ireland are loving wearing their t shirts with Ulster banners on the back, standard Adidas shirts aren't enough for those fellows, not offensive enough.

Optimalprimerib

Andersonisgod wrote: »

For the very reputation of this board I hope there's a big turnaround because the current results are genuinely crazy.

But if we were to go on your opinion the poll would need one entry.

With a bit of luck, England could do quite well.it's a young team with decent attacking options.

DJKendo

Germany

Short look at England, Ireland and Wales' chances below for anyone interested.

Euro 2016

fryup

Croatia

Austria ?

a good outside bet? @ 40/1

Bounty Hunter

Germany

MagicIRL wrote: »

Think it's a two horse race between France and Germany myself. Think the German's may edge it though.

I reckon that is one of the Semi-finals right there, with the winner to face Spain.

I'd also wager that far more English people use this forum than Spanish or a number of other nations which may also account for them getting such a high vote. Ireland for example would probably have an equally as high vote (for the laugh mostly but still) if it wasn't in other.

Skylinehead

fryup wrote: »

Austria ?

a good outside bet? @ 40/1

Much rather go for Croatia @25s

Corholio

Any wallcharts in any of the newspapers this weekend or next week? A lot of them seem to be download only from the websites.

Paully D

England

The excitement is really starting to kick in now.

Here's a cool full tournament predictor where you can predict exact results for every game. Give it a go and let us know what you get.

Here's my effort. I didn't put too much thought into the exact results, moreso focusing on who was going to win each game. I'll no doubt be miles off :pac:

http://sky.thesportspredictor.com/football/euros/wallchart

extra gravy

UEFA releases pronunciation guide for every single player's name

http://www.uefa.com/uefaeuro/news/newsid=2371493.html

Impress your mates in the pub when you know how to pronounce the likes of Balász Dzsudzsák correctly :pac:

BullBlackNova

Germany

Voted France in the poll but that could all come crumbling down at the very end.

Every time I do one of those predictor games, i end up with Poland, Croatia and Austria all doing quite well.

Don't have much faith in Italy, Portugal, the Czechs, the Turks this time, and reckon England and Wales will find their group tougher than expected. Russia and Slovakia could be sticky - still fancy England to get through and the draw could be pretty kind to them from there, but think it could be closer than they think.

As for Ireland's group, I reckon Ireland, Italy and Sweden could end up separated by goal difference which could see any of the three go through or out. Belgium should top the group, but I don't think they'll go much further - when the going gets tough, they'll choke.

Hungary, Albania, the Czechs and Northern Ireland all to finish bottom.

Very excited to see the Croatian midfield in action, they've a good clutch of young players too - might be one tournament too soon for them but I wouldn't be surprised with a QF appearance.

Spain to return to the top table and play France in the final - every which way I've done my predictions, that's the end result each time!!

That said - with my betting history, lump it all on the Czechs to win lads!!

Canadel

Germany

Iceland and Wales could challenge if they get out of their respective groups.

France are my favourites though.

Canadel

Germany

Canadel wrote: »

Iceland and Wales could challenge if they get out of their respective groups.

France are my favourites though.

Wales are not exactly in super form

Shanotheslayer

Germany

France for me.

Dark horse: Croatia/Austria

eagle eye

England

Did that predictor thing and came up with Spain beating Croatia in the final.I have Spain beating France in the Quarters and Croatia beating Germany in the quarters in extra-time.

Paully D

England

Anyone lucky enough to be off work next week for this?

eagle eye

England

Over 80 minutes gone in Madrid and Spain are 1-0 behind to Georgia. They have dominated the game and looked like Barca up until they have to finish. They don't have Lionel, Luis or Neymar and the players in those roles just aren't cutting it at all. Nolito has had a wonderful season and has looked lively but I'm not so sure he is up to it for the Euros. Silva has been the best player on the park for me, almost Xavi'espue.

eagle eye

England

Georgia win 1-0, Spain have concerns about their ability to finish even after putting six by South Korea the other day.

Morata is a very important player for them. He didn't play tonight.

Andre 3000

Italy

Pogba's skill level is just a joke. He has it all.

Canadel

Germany

Andre 3000 wrote: »

Pogba's skill level is just a joke. He has it all.

Perhaps. Though he does very little in that video.